Page 59 of The Highlander's Christmas Bride

“Marie and Ainsley didn’t always see eye-to-eye, I take it.”

Angus snorted. “The house was barely big enough to hold the two of them, and that is a big house ye have there in Halifax. Ainsley truly loves Joseph, but she’s better with little girls than boys. Joseph is six years old now, and he belongs with his da and the rest of his family. Marie knew that.”

“Agreed, but I’m not sure he’ll feel at home in Glasgow. Our good citizens are not a particularly tolerant lot. They barely put up with the Irish immigrants, much less . . .”

“A boy with Mi’kmaq blood?” Angus bluntly finished. “Ye’ll need to throw it back in their faces and stop pussyfooting around it.”

Logan scowled. “I’m not ashamed of my son’s heritage, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

“Don’t be daft, but the wee lad might get other ideas, if yer not careful. He already thinks ye don’t want him here.”

“That’s ridiculous. Why would he think that?”

“Because yer livin’ in Scotland and he was livin’ in Canada?”

It was hard to ignore that logic. “I’ve made a mess of everything, haven’t I?”

“Now ye have a chance to fix it, laddie.”

Victoria popped her head out of the drawing room. “Are you two coming in? Graeme is eating all the plum cake, and Joseph is asking for his father.”

As Logan followed Angus, Victoria stopped him with a touch. “I was sorry to hear about your father-in-law.”

“Thank you. He was the best of men.”

“Joseph is a terribly sweet boy. I’m so glad he’s come home to us. Toyou.”

Logan watched his son, sprawled on the rug with Kade and the terriers.

“As am I,” he said in a voice tight with emotion.

Kade waved an arm. “Logan, come join us.”

The youngest Kendrick brother was now seventeen, a tall beanpole of a lad. He’d grown strong these last few years, finally leaving years of sickness behind. It was because of Logan that Kade had taken ill as a boy—the consequence of that terrible day by the river. But Kade had never held it against him. The lad had a huge, loving heart, and it seemed he was well on his way to loving his new nephew, too.

Logan hunkered down on the plush Aubusson rug where the boys played with Toby and Daisy, the youngest of the terriers.

Joseph glanced up with a smile. “They’re very nice dogs, Papa, don’t you think?”

Nicewas the last adjective anyone but Angus would likely use to describe the dogs. They were yappy, disobedient, and had a tendency to roll in whatever disgusting muck they could find.

“They are indeed,” he said, returning the smile.

He had to repress the instinct to sweep the boy into his arms and hug him tight. Despite Angus’s advice, Logan’s instincts told him to go slow. Joseph was grieving the separation from his grandmother and now the loss of his grandfather. He needed patience, love, and the time to regain trust in the father he’d not seen in over a year.

Whatever his son needed, Logan was determined to give.

Angus settled into one of the needlepointed wing chairs beside the fireplace and pulled out his battered clay pipe. “Those two were just pups when I left, and now they’re as fine as any terriers I’ve seen. Ye did a grand job with all the dogs, Kade. I thank ye for lookin’ after them.”

Angus had been heartbroken to leave his darlings when he fled Scotland. Only Kade’s promise to care for them had prevented the old fellow from trying to smuggle the whole pack onto the boat.

Kade touched his grandfather’s knee. “I’m sorry about Bruce and Bobby. I took very good care of them, but they were already old when you left.”

“I know, but I still canna believe they’re gone,” Angus replied in a doleful voice.

“Tina has had another litter of puppies,” Kade brightly added. “Six in all, and each in perfect health and scrappy as anything.”

“As you can imagine, Taffy is simply thrilled,” Victoria said wryly.

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